ABSTRACT
When you explore celebrity advocacy it becomes a peculiar and paradoxical entity. We have seen that it is becoming increasingly important in the NGO sector in the UK which has evolved a systematic and well-organised set of relations with the celebrity industries. Work with charities is now an important element of celebrity brand building and news reporting. This is largely carried out on the celebrity industries’ own terms. We have seen that a great deal of energy, effort and work is invested in it on all sides. ‘Getting’ the relationship between celebrity and NGOs is hard. Liaison officers have to negotiate numerous hurdles thrown up by colleagues, the celebrity industries and corporate partners. These efforts at relation ship building are generally successful at building interactions that display various forms of authenticity. In fact, the authentic relationships resulting can be much stronger than the traditional means of reporting on them suggest. There can be a depth to celebrities’ engagements with international development that will not be well captured in the standard reports about their field-trips.
